Regardless of how good you are, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd, especially online. Freelance writing is a very lucrative and worthwhile career to pursue – however, it’s also filled to the brim with the competition. This is where the power of personal branding can come to your aid and help spread your freelance writing wings.

According to Entrepreneur, it takes 5-7 impressions for someone to remember your personal brand, while 92% of people trust personal brands more than corporate brands. That’s why we’ve put together a list of 5 best tips for building a personal brand as a freelance writer. Let’s dive into why you should do it and how it can help you find inspiration for further development.

source: Unsplash

 

1.Choose Your Niche Early On

A writer’s niche is an important part of their personal branding. You don’t want to appear as a “jack of all trades” to your readers.

Instead, pick the direction for your freelance writing career and stick to it. This way, you’ll come across as:

• professional
• trustworthy
• someone who can offer true value on the topic

Writing about digital marketing for years on end might not be exciting at first, but your repository of insight and contacts will expand as a result. If you go around writing about everything, you’ll end up being perceived as an expert in nothing.

 

2.Put “Personal” Into Personal Branding

You don’t have to present yourself as “the next New York Times” to succeed in the freelance writing market. However, you do have to put your name, face, and personality out there.

Emphasize your character traits, personal values, and hobbies in the bios you attach to writing. Let your readers know that you are a human being with wants and emotions just like they are.

source: Pexels

This will ensure that your readers:

• feel connected to you
• feel like your close friends
• develop an emotional bond with you

If you present yourself as a human being with dreams, passions, fears, and emotions, you’ll be more relatable and interesting to your readership.

 

3.Blog about Your Career

Nothing can make you more personable than to start your own blog and write about the career you’re building.

Freelance writing can be a scary career choice for many, and you opening up about it will do wonders for your perception.

Be professional and don’t disclose client information in your blog posts – otherwise, write about how you feel about your career’s development as freely as possible.

In addition, you could share:

• career tips
• guidance and advice
• little secrets to your success

This way, other professional writers might develop an interest in your blog, which is a great way to do networking.

 

4.Publish Rich & Accurate Content

The content that you publish is what will help you build your personal brand. This content will speak for you and influence potential readers to shape a positive opinion about you.

This is why you need to give more than just written content. You should also include visuals such as:

• images
• videos
• screenshots
• infographics
• GIFs
• memes

This will make your content far more memorable and your name as a freelance writer far more reputable.

Diana Adjadj, a writer and content manager at TopEssayWriting, says: “Make sure that your content is accurately written. You don’t want to allow yourself to have any spelling or grammar mistakes. This could seriously jeopardize your credibility.

Therefore, use online spell and grammar checkers to proofread every word.

 

5.Let Your Work Speak for You

Lastly, the best way to build a personal brand as a freelance writer is to simply do your work well.

Every article published under your name will inevitably include your writing style, perspective on the topic, as well as the writer’s bio. And every word that you write a publish will be a part of your:

• personal brand
• image as a professional writer
• credibility score

Focus on your work, and your brand will grow organically over time. This will bring new networking opportunities to your doorstep and allow for even more freelance writing work to be done under your name.

source: Pexels

 

Why should you build your Personal Brand as a Freelance Writer?

Now that we know how to build a personal brand more efficiently, let’s talk about why it matters at all.

The benefits of personal branding are clear-cut and relate to your success as a freelance writer in regards to attracting clients and readers alike. Some of the most worthwhile reasons to do so are:

• Becoming an expert in a certain writing niche
• Increased readers’ trust in your writing
• Increase in your authenticity and uniqueness on the writers’ market
• Ability to affect the public perception of the topics and trends you cover
• Ability to raise your prices and get better writing contracts

Without proper personal branding, your name will get lost in the sea of other writers, and you won’t be able to build a solid, loyal audience.

 

In Summary

Personal branding should always be an extension of your personality as a freelance writer. Don’t hide behind an arbitrary logo or distance yourself from your work – embrace the spotlight.

This will make your work far more personable and allow readers to identify with your writing style and opinions far more easily. Before you know it, you will have built a personal brand that will speak of your commitment to writing even in the occasional readers’ eyes.